Victoria Falls – Kasane, Botswana

Travelling to the Botswana border this morning, we set up camp on the banks of the Chobe River. We spend the afternoon exploring the Chobe National Park. For those who purchased the Activity Package we explore the park in 4×4 vehicles where we experience up close and personal experiences with elephants near the river front of Chobe. We end the afternoon with an incredible sunset cruise and enjoy a delicious meal around camp fire.

The second biggest park in all of Botswana, Chobe National Park spreads over approximately 10,600 square kilometres of northern Botswana. The Park forms part of the medley of lakes, islands and floodplains created from the river systems of the Kwanda, Linyanti and Chobe Rivers. This region is well-known for its enormous buffalo and elephant herds – the population of which is presently around 120,000. The Chobe elephants migrate often and travel up to 200 kilometres from the Chobe and Linyanti rivers, where they gather during the dry season, to the pans in the southeast portion of the park during rainy season. These giants are specifically Kalahari elephants, identifiable by their frail ivory and short tusks which are possibly due to the lack of calcium in the soils. Because of their high population, much damage to vegetation is caused in certain areas and therefore, culls have been considered but never carried out due to the enormous controversy surrounding the act.

The initial inhabitants of this region were the San people, known in Botswana as the ‘Basarwa’. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers who travelled from place to place searching for the next source of food and water. The San were eventually forced out by groups of the Basubiya people and, in 1911, a congregation of Batawana moved to the area. It was decided in 1931 that a national park would be erected in order to guard the wildlife from extinction as well as to attract tourists. During 1932, an area of approximately 24,000 square kilometres in the Chobe region was declared as a non-hunting zone. Throughout the years, the boundaries of the park have been modified and the people who have settled in the region have been progressively relocated. Chobe National Park was eventually completely rid of human occupation in the year 1975, and in 1980 (and once more in 1986) the boundaries were once again altered, growing the park to its current size.